


Nothing But Perfect

by ImaRavenclaw



Series: NBP Verse [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Abuse, Coming Out, Coming of Age, Love Confessions, Love Triangles, Multi, Pressure, Sexuality, Young Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-02
Updated: 2016-08-03
Packaged: 2018-07-28 20:07:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 15,888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7654912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImaRavenclaw/pseuds/ImaRavenclaw
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Nothing but perfect will do Scorpius Hyperion."</p><p>Albus/OC * Scorbus * Scorpius/OC</p><p>Also posted on HPFF.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Lives

_I know I was made to break._

 

* * *

 

 

He only ever used my middle name when he was angry, but he was almost always angry. This was one of those times. I knew the drill, and it was scary.  
  
The evening was hot and sticky, and tension was high. But instead of walking into my dad’s study and being hit, or lectured or interrogated, or punished, he just wanted to talk. Instead he just asked that I take a seat and finished shuffling his papers before giving me one of his trademark looks.   
  
“You are fifteen, your mother is pregnant, and I think it’s time we talked about some things.”  
  
“Yes.” I said simply. I was probably to talk about which girl to have sex with.   
  
   
  
He didn’t end up saying anything about which girl, but telling me about the act itself, as if I (his innocent, obedient son) didn’t know.  
  
He explained everything, making sure to make sure I saw it as something chaste and with the perfect girl.   
  
“So, how is Rose?” He asked conversationally.  
  
“She’s fine.” I said, and could almost tell where this was going. Ever since _that day_ he asked about girls, talked about girls, and suggested girls. It was starting to get on my nerves.  
  
“Father, I think I’ll be alone forever.”  
  
“Don’t, _Scorpius Hyperion_. Don’t you ever say that, you are a Malfoy. You can’t be anything but perfect. It’s our lives, the _Malfoy Lives._ No Malfoy boy has never not found a girl.” He had a tense tone, and I almost thought he would smack me, but he seemed to realize it and went back to softness.  
  
“You’re nothing but perfect. You’ll find an amazing girl.” He said dryly. I nodded, and he dismissed me, reminding me not to go to bed too late.  
  
   
  
*  
  
 _He took another draw at our kiss, running his hands all over my body and eventually resting on my arse before squeezing it. He found my favourite spot on my neck, and bit softly, making me numb. I moaned as we got more passionate, and it fired him up. Soon, we were full on and completely in tune with each other, our hearts beating as if we were the same person. It was like being submerged in water, drowning but taking in the last moments of life. It felt so good, like nothing will anyone else. I moaned loudly, arching with half my body off the bed. Our legs intertwined and he kissed my collarbone, moving to my chest and then my abdomen and lower. All I could do was scream out his name_  
  
 _“Albus!”_  
  
   
  
My eyes shot open and I shot up, my face hot and my whole body shaking with sweat. I repeatedly ran my hands through my hair and was trembling uncontrollably. This wasn’t the first time I’d had that dream…  
  
I ripped off the covers and sheets, and felt even worse as I saw the bulge in my boxers.   
  
I padded across the small corridor of my room area to the bathroom. I spent about five minutes splashing freezing water on my face, before staring at my paler then usual face in the mirror.   
  
“You _aren’t_. You aren’t. You aren’t. You aren’t.” I growled at my reflection in the mirror and eventually started crying it out instead. I thanked Merlin for the fact that all my walls were soundproofed.   
  
I almost debated taking a cold shower to calm my southern side, but debated against it. Even soundproofing wouldn’t block running water.   
  
Eventually I just went back to bed, and tried to fall asleep like I had the previous nights. I didn’t understand why I was so unable to fall into sleep when I wanted to. Either I was plagued with nightmares of my father or dirty dreams of Albus, so I almost lost the will and the act of sleeping became hollow.  
  
   
  
*  
  
“Good morning Master Scorpius.” Our house elf, Aber, said. Inconveniently he’d brought me breakfast in bed, which only meant one thing: My parents were gone.   
  
“Might I suggest going for a broom ride after breakfast? It’s a very beautiful day outside.” He said, opening my curtains with a _crack_.  
  
“That sounds great, would you please fetch my gear and leave it in the corridor?”  
  
“Yes sir.”  
  
I was good friends with our house elves. Before Hogwarts, I didn’t have any friends except for Henrietta Zabini, who was very annoying and two years younger. Now, she fancied me like mad. It was like she kept my used tissues.   
  
   
  
An hour later, I had finished breakfast, showered, changed, and was now headed to our pitch.  
  
I never had quidditch games at home, as we lived in a remote area and father forbade certain classmates from coming to the manor. I usually just flew around.  
  
Today was indeed a beautiful day, but not by normal people standards, but by ‘me’ standards. It was grey with a hint of sunshine, and crisp and cool.   
  
The wind blew my hair in different directions, and I wasn’t focusing on the air. I had another one of my fantasies. They were getting more and more frequent and I had no idea how to control them. In this particular one Albus had his arms around me whilst I flew. This had happened once during a quidditch game, and I almost got hit by a bludger in the process. Albus (who was the youngest ever captain of the Slytherin team) had yelled at me two split seconds before the bludger almost hit me. Thanks to him I still had a perfectly normal face.  
  
   
  
“Find the snitch and get this over with!” He yelled after. I nodded through the clouds and continued to search for the snitch.  
  
This time there was no one to get me back into focus, and I ended up crashing into a tree just off the lot.  
  
“Ow.” I moaned, pulling twigs out of my hair. Eventually I managed to get unstuck from the branches, and jumped down from the tree, deciding my day would be better spent inside.  
  
So, I spent the rest of the day rotating between thinking about Albus, eating, playing chess, reading, sleeping, and thinking about Albus.   
  
   
  
My parents didn’t come home until late, so I snuck into my room quickly before I could have an opportunity to run into my father.  
  
I thought I didn’t get my wish of not seeing him, as he knocked on my door quickly. I opened my door, expecting to see his narrow and pointed face, and mean grey eyes. But instead saw a head of effortlessly dishevelled black hair, black framed geek glasses, green eyes, and trademark lopsided grin.        
  
   
  
 _“Hey.”_ He said coyly.  
  
   
  
“Dear, can I come in?” Her face went back to Astoria Malfoy, and Albus Potter disappeared, and I had a fight with my brain.  
  
“Uh, yeah.” I said awkwardly, moving aside to let her in.  
  
“You were standing there for two minutes, are you sick honey?” She asked, putting the back of her hand to my forehead.   
  
“I’m fine Mum, just have a lot on my mind. OWLs and all.”  
  
“You’ll be fine. And actually, that’s why I’m here.” I raised my eyebrows. “I wanted to say goodbye to you, before tomorrow. Before you father watches our goodbye.”  
  
“Oh,” I mumbled.  
  
She whispered so quietly, that I felt like she was nervous he’d hear us. “Sometimes it gets very tense when you’re gone. He’s been good to me, but it gets quiet when your away.” She looked down sadly, but her tone changed. “He scares me,” She said, rather amused.  
  
“Oh,” I said again. For once I was actually tuned in to reality, but I couldn’t think of anything else to say.  
  
“I’ll miss you. I’m excited for you to bring home a girl for the holidays.” She said. “Will you be coming back for Christmas?”  
  
“Not if I have to have a girl by then.” I said dubiously. Mother simply laughed and kissed the top of my head, leaving me alone with my thoughts.  
  
   
  
At first they were about her, but then they found their usual place with Albus. At this time of day, those thoughts needed privacy so I wouldn’t be completely embarrassed or mind striped search, so I changed and got under my covers quickly.  
  
   
  
*   
  
Naturally, I got up early. Three in the morning, but that was because of my dreams. So, I had to go back to sleep.  
  
Naturally 2, I woke at 7:00, but fell back to sleep.  
  
Alarmness, I actually left bed at 7:30, refusing to be late for the Hogwarts Express. I needed to be mentally prepared, I’d be sitting right next (or right across) from my best friend, and needed to not make any rash decisions or irreversibly exposing ‘I love you’ actions.   
  
My trunk was ready in the corner of my room, and breakfast was quick. Before I knew it we were at Kings Cross. I didn’t even remember anything before that.  
  
   
  
My goodbyes were quick as usual, Father despises emotional spectacles, he says they’re too effeminate. He lets my mother cry, but my first year when I did too, he said it was unmanly, and forbade it. He forbids a lot of things.  
  
After a quick lecture about behaviour, grades, and girls, and mother’s tearful hug, I got on the train.  
  
I eventually found the compartment where my friends were situated, and it wasn’t that difficult as redhead Rose Weasley was waving frantically at me. “Scorp we’re right here!” She called through the closed door.  
  
I slid it open and stepped in. The air felt nicer in here. In the compartment was Rose, Albus, Sachi Merony (a beautiful muggleborn girl) and dotingly Albus’s sister, Lily Potter.  
  
“Hey Scorpius.” Sachi said coyly. She really was beautiful. She was tan, and had beautiful brown and straight hair. She was tall and smart and gorgeous. Freckles dotted her face and today she was wearing a smart green V-neck sweater with her gold chained diamond necklace. It was one she wore all the time. Like I said, simple and beautiful. She was one of the many girls Father had recommended for me countless times. But she was just a friend, and she was dating Albus’s brother. And she didn’t attract me—couldn’t attract me— by doing anything, as much as Albus could attract me by his mere presence.   
  
Rose was also very beautiful, and we had dated in third year, and last year, as a matter of fact I was pretty sure she thought we were still dating. She was my cover, and I think she kind of knew it.   
  
Sachi took her seat next to me and gave me a hug. “Where’s your boyfriend?” I asked her.  
  
“He’s head boy, doing rounds.” She said.   
  
“Hey Scorpius.” His husky voice said.  
  
“Hi.” I said, my voice cracking on the _i_. He plopped in between me and Sachi and in turn gave me a quick hug that said ‘friends’, but would have put my father in rage fire since _that day_.   
  
“How was your summer?” Albus asked me, looking into my blue with his green.  
  
“The usual.” I said. He bit his lip at that, _god he’s_ _so sexy when he does that_.   
  
He got up and flopped down next to Rose after, brushing a piece of sugar from her liquorice quill off her face.  
  
   
  
“Anything from the trolley?” The old witch asked from a few compartments away. I got up and so did Albus.  
  
“Get me a chocolate cauldron!” Sachi called after us.   
  
“I’ll take more liquorice wands, preferably Blue Raspberry and Quidditch Wind.”   
  
“Can you get me some Bertie Botts?” Lily added to the list of candy.   
  
   
  
We got to the trolley and Albus asked for my favourite kind of candy and his sister’s beans. So, I asked for his favourite candy and Sachi and Rose’s candy. We traded favourites and gave the rest of the candy to the girls.  
  
   
  
Soon after, James came by.   
  
“I might have to take a few points from Gryffindor for your looking too sexy.” James addressed Sachi. She blushed and kissed him quickly before he left.  
  
“See you in the common room tonight.” She said, after they’d finished their anything but chaste kiss.  
  
“Yep,” James said, then left.   
  
   
  
A small howl came from under the seat, and Sachi’s puppy revealed itself for the first time in the ride.   
   
  
“He’s so cute.” I whined, hoisting him up immediately and petting him. “What’s your name?”  
  
“His name is Ollie.” Sachi smiled, taking her chocolate lab back.  
  
“I want to hold him!” Lily said, followed by Rose and Albus.  
  
“He really is cute.” Albus said, as Ollie licked his cheek.   
  
“He was my birthday present.” Sachi said, patting her puppy on the head. “Because now dogs, ferrets, pygmy puffs, and rabbits are allowed.”  
  
“What if he runs away at night?” Lily asked her concerned.  
  
“He won’t, he has a kennel.” Sachi assured her. “What did you get for your birthday Rose?” Ironically, Rose and Sachi have the same birthday, July 21st.   
  
“I got a load of books.” She said simply. “And a lot of liquorice wands. Nothing as interesting as a puppy.”  
  
“Hey, you got a hug from me.” Albus protested, fake pouting.  
  
“And I got a hug from Albus.” Rose laughed.   
  
Albus was the oldest, then me, then Sachi (by thirteen hours older then Rose), then Rose, then Lily.   
  
   
  
“So, you didn’t answer my question.” Albus challenged.  
  
“What?” I asked.  
  
“I asked what you did this summer, and you answered ‘the usual’. But that doesn’t mean anything. What did you really do?”  
  
   
  
 _Dreamt about you._  
  
   
  
“Just hung out I guess. Studied, read, slept in.” I shrugged.  
  
“Sounds exciting.” Albus replied sarcastically. “We went to Tibet, right Lily?”  
  
“Yeah, it was so cool. The Himalayas are so pretty.” She said dreamily. I nodded, even though I’d never actually seen the Himalayas.   
  
“Other then Tibet, we went to the beach a lot. Played games, quidditch. Et cetera.” Albus said. I nodded, and drowned myself into his every feature, priding myself on knowing everything about him.  
  
   
  
 _Albus Severus Potter_  
  
 _15_  
  
 _Favourite colour, forest green._  
  
 _Favourite quidditch team, the Harpies (the team his mother plays for)._  
  
 _Single_  
  
 _Favourite food: Turkey._  
  
 _Favourite candy: Gummy bears._  
  
 _Books: Muggle or astronomical._  
  
 _Dream job: Astronomer, astronomy teacher, or historian._  
  
 _Status: Head in the stars._  
  
 _Hair colour: Jet black._  
  
 _Eyes colour: Bright green._  
  
 _Favourite hobbies: Studying stars, drawing, or playing quidditch._  
  
 _Hogwarts: House, Slytherin. Captain of the quidditch team, chaser._  
  
 _Music: Anything with the cello or electric guitar._  
  
 _Wand: 12’’ Dragon Heartstring, quite bendy._  
  
 _Glasses? Yes._  
  
 _Parents: Ginerva “Ginny” Potter and Harry James Potter._  
  
 _Siblings: James Sirius Potter and Lily Luna Potter._  
  
 _Favourite book? The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells._  
  
 _And anything else…_  
  
   
  
“We should get in our robes.” Rose suggested, as it started to get dark. “We should be there soon.”  
  
“Yeah, good idea.” Sachi said, pulling on her Gryffindor robes. Albus and I slipped on our Slytherin robes, and Rose and Lily, Ravenclaw. Afterwards I sat back down and pulled out a book.  
  
“The Invisible Man?” Albus asked, perking up at the sight of his favourite book in his best friend’s lap.   
  
“Yeah.” I said, patting the spot next to me. He came over and sat and looked over my shoulder to read. His breaths were warm on my neck, and they caused the hairs on the back of it to stand up. I went into dreamland again. I could sense him kissing my neck, until I heard his voice saying: “Your such a slow reader, turn the page.”   
  
I shook my head at my foolishness and turned the page to the next chapter. Eventually Albus fell asleep in my arms, but only a few minutes before the train stopped and I had to (sadly) wake him up from his position on my lap.   
  
We all walked out together to the carriages and sat.   
  
Albus grabbed my hand unexpectedly and whispered, “This’l be the best year ever.”  
  
   
  
*  
  
I hated Mondays. Particularly this one. I had to listen to Professor Binns drone on about History of Magic, and all without Albus. I had him after lunch for our two block potions, and then didn’t see him until dinner.  
  
I let my chin stay on my clasped hands for the majority of the lesson, as all Professor Binns did was outline the courses for this year. A quarter of my attention was on him, but the rest was with Albus. He was probably in his Care of Magical Creatures class right then.  
  
I really wanted to see him, but I’d have to wait till’ lunch.   
  
In runes, I did all my bored habits. I clicked my pens, drummed with my quills, thought of what I would say to Albus when we worked together in potions or when we ate at lunch, had daydreams, wrote down reasons _not_ to listen, etc.   
  
I stared at the board, and counted how many minutes were left. I groaned when I realized class had just started.  
  
Disastrous this situation was, was the clock slow by any chance?   
  
   
  
When runes was over, I was excited to only have one more period until lunch. One more period until Albus.   
  
This period, I had Transfiguration, my best subject. The time went by quickly as I was the first to finish the assigned task. We had to turn an owl into an opera glass, part of the OWL curriculum. After that, Professor Harris said I could just work on any homework from other classes. I only had a little from runes, so it would be quick.   
  
When the bell rang I gathered all my stuff and ran down stairs at full speed until I reached the great hall.   
  
Apparently we were sitting at Ravenclaw today. We usually did a weird sort of rotation to decide which table we sat at each day or meal. Headmaster Longbottom had a rule that we could sit at any table we wanted during breakfast or lunch, but had to eat at our house tables during dinner, especially term feasts and celebration feasts.   
  
I plopped down next to Rose, who had taken the liberty of piling spaghetti on my plate, and pouring pumpkin juice in my glass. I thanked her and asked them about their classes.   
  
“We had Care of Magical Creatures first period.” Rose said disdainfully. “I don’t have any idea why I ever picked it.”  
  
“I do!” Albus said “I like animals, and I love it.”  
  
“Easy for you to say, Hagrid is much fonder of you.”  
  
“Hagrid’s perfectly fond of you.”   
  
“Yes, but I don’t like animals.”  
  
“Rose stop making excuses.” Albus snorted, elbowing his cousin. “Rose fell asleep in the middle of lesson.”  
  
“Not true!” Rose protested, causing me to laugh.  
  
“So true.” Albus smiled, with a glint in his eyes. He took a big bite of his garlic bread, and when Rose tried to argue, he simply pointed at his full mouth.  
  
“So Scorp,” he said after swallowing “what did you have?”  
  
“HOM, runes, and transfiguration.”  
  
“HOM?” Albus asked.  
  
“History of Magic.” Rose piped in quickly.  
  
“Yeah,” I shrugged.  
  
“You do that a lot,” Albus said.  
  
“What?”  
  
“Shrug.”  
  
“Sorry.” I mumbled. Albus started laughing his head off.  
  
“Fuck Scorp, do you seriously think you need to apologize?” He coughed through fits of laughter. Albus laughed a lot more then I did. I tried not to show emotion. Emotions got him no where except beatings and lectures.   
  
The bell rang, and Albus got up. “See you later mate,” I smiled, and waved half-heartedly. He walked away, and I cursed myself for checking out his arse.   
  
He was amazing, but he wasn’t mine. No one would ever allow it…  
  
 

 


	2. Thoughts

_I've been thinking about things that might hurt us._

 

* * *

 

 

__I prided myself on a clear mind. But my mind wasn’t actually clear. When I was younger, I was more mature then everyone. I was calm and solemn, obedient. I was the trained puppy in the crowd of strays. To my father, I was just a dog, a pawn.  
  
   
  
He’d taught me to be obedient, to be subordinate, well groomed. I was constantly on display, the poster child for the Malfoy name that my grandfather had ruined.  
  
   
  
I almost wanted to tell my father that was exactly like the man he wanted nothing to do with. You could see every inch of Lucius Malfoy in him. Sure, he wasn’t on an evil side of war, but he might as well have been.  
  
Sometimes, my thoughts would consume me, and I’d be left standing senseless and unresponsive until someone nudged me out of my daze. Today this was Albus.  
  
   
  
“Scorpius, you’ve literally been super quiet all day, what’s wrong?”  
  
I put on ‘that face’ and gave him a grin. “Guess I shouldn’t be staying up so late thinking about which girls to take into dark corridors.” I said, receiving a laugh from Albus.  
  
“How about Lavender Finnegan?”  
  
“Nah.”  
  
“Terra Thomas?”  
  
“Dunno,”  
  
“Aja Brown?”  
  
“Not my type,”  
  
“My cousin?”  
  
“Which one?” I laughed, getting pulled into him with every force of Earth.   
  
“Dominique, Rose, Molly, Lucy, etc.?”  
  
“I’ll think about it.” I assured him. God he was acting just like my father. He nodded, and then excused himself to the loo to get ready for bed, and I joined him feeling tired and ready to call it a night.  
  
   
  
“I still don’t understand why you don’t take night showers, it might help you sleep better.” Albus suggested. _Shit, he’s going to take a shower._  
  
“Yeah, maybe.” I said, trying to covertly avert my eyes. It was a good thing I did, as moments later Albus dropped his boxers and stood naked out in the open for about twenty seconds before getting in the shower.   
  
   
  
Steam rose out and coated the mirrors in a lazy haze as I brushed my teeth and washed my face. I tried to get ready quickly, so I wouldn’t have to say anything more to Albus.  
  
   
  
When I finished I strode out of the bathroom hastily, and slipped into my cool bed.   
  
   
  
I hadn’t managed to fall asleep by the time Albus came back into the dorm. Everyone else was sleeping peacefully around us, breathing heavily and dreaming softly. Albus was probably looking around, trying to spot me up so we could talk about girls.   
  
   
  
I didn’t want to talk about girls at all, but about _him_.  
  
   
  
*  
  
It was a breakfast of snogging couples and ex couples and plain old love. James and Sachi were feeding each other, Lily was eating up her new boyfriend Daniel, Rose was talking about the boy she’d just broken up with, and Albus was staring across the room at god knows which girl. I only focused on him.  
  
   
  
“Who are you staring at?” I whispered, trying not to sound jealous.   
  
“Oh,” He blushed, and seemed to be cursing himself for me having noticed. “Just some, girl.”  
  
“What’s her name?” I tried sounding curious instead of green with envy. Albus blushed even more as if there was something more to the story.  
  
“H-her name is Maddie, s-she’s in R-Ravenclaw.” He stammered, blushing and blushing and blushing.  
  
Rose turned from her stories and noticed him. “Al, what’s wrong? You’re red as a fire truck.”  
  
“It’s a girl,” I said, bitting my lip. Rose laughed, and elbowed her cousin.  
  
“Then why is he blushing? Oh, it must be the new astronomy teacher. Albus, do you have a crush on Professor Arangia?”  
  
“I’m too old for crushes on teachers.” Albus said. “Plus,” he added “it’s always been more of a girls thing.”  
  
“You’re normally so suave and confident with girl situations. So why are you blushing?” Rose questioned.  
  
“She’s just, very pretty.” Albus shrugged. I couldn’t help but feel there was more to it…  
  
“What does she look like?” Rose asked. Albus stopped for a moment, seeming to be thinking. “She’s got brown hair, she’s short, and she has pretty eyes.”  
  
“And what’s so special about her?”  
  
“I don’t know, I just like her okay?” Albus snapped, clearly wanting to end the conversation.   
  
“Okay, okay.” Rose said, raising her arms in supplication. “What do you have first?”  
  
“Herbology.” Albus answered with a pissy tone, and then looked back to who I assumed was Maddie.   
  
   
  
 **Author’s Note: Sorry this is such a short chapter (I wanted to get to the slash goodies in the next one!). I hope you like the story so far, it’s kind of complicated to write but I’m happy with it, I’d love for you to review and tell me what you think (those thoughts make my day!)**  
  
 **So, pretty much the idea for this was that I had too many fics where Draco was a good and happy and supportive father. Though he is still supportive and wants what _he_ thinks is best for his son, he’s harsh and strict and so close in personality to his father. **  
  
 **I’d love to know if this is good so far, because I always feel weird when starting stories.**  
  
 **Thanks for reading and wherever you are in the world, have a great day!**  
  
 **-ImaRavenclaw**

 


	3. Questionings

_Maybe he feels the same way I do, in a different way._

 

* * *

 

 

 

I could think of numerous times Albus had asked me for help or advice, but never one like this.  
  
“I lied to you yesterday.” He whispered after locking the door to our dorm. “I wasn’t staring at a girl named Maddie, I was—“ He stopped, seeming unsure whether or not to continue.  
  
“Albus, you can tell me anything.” I told him, knowing it probably wouldn’t help.  
  
“I think I’m gay.” He breathed, almost inaudible. “I was staring at Matthew Hennings, Maddie Henning’s brother. Maddie’s in Hufflepuff, he’s the one in Ravenclaw.”  
  
   
  
I didn’t say anything. I was jealous, but also overjoyed.   
  
   
  
“Don’t go for him. I love you, _I want you_.”   
  
   
  
But instead I said, “I’m happy for you. You should ask him to go round’ with you.”   
  
“I’ll ask him on a date first. Okay, I’m doing this.” He said, earning all his 'Girl Confidence' back (not that Matthew was a girl in any shape or form or inside or out). He unlocked the door and left the room.  
  
I hurried behind him, as he made his way to where he knew Matthew would be. He went down the steps to the grounds with haste, and found him with his Ravenclaw buddies.  
  
A lot of people were outside, enjoying their last days of freedom before crazy crunch time for NEWT and OWL exams started.   
  
I stood behind, and shut out my fantasies as I watched him live his.   
  
“Hey,” He said to Matthew. “Hi Albus.” He said, getting up. “What’s up?”  
  
“Um, I was just wondering if you wanted to be my date to Hogsmede this weekend?”  
  
“Yeah, that sounds great, how about we meet at the doors at ten.”  
  
“Perfect.” Albus said, and walked back to me.   
  
“Good job.” I said. “We better get to Early-Morning Charms.”  
  
“Wait, we share that class?”  
  
“Yes, yes we do.” I nodded. Albus laughed a little, then turned and took one last glimpse at his future Hogsmede date before following me into the castle to get our stuff.   
  
   
  
*  
  
The time to Hogsmede went by faster then I thought it would, and I hadn’t thought about it whatsoever. I then just realized at dinner the night before that I had no one to go with, since Albus was going with Matthew and they’d probably end up snogging an hour in (or earlier…) I wouldn’t blame anyone, Albus was a hot snogging buddy. Not that I would know.  
  
So, I resorted to the only thing I could do, and asked—dear lord why?— Maddie Hennings.   
  
I had date block okay?   
  
   
  
Yes, I know it’s a little messed up to ask the girl who is the sister of the guy who your best guy friend asked out and you have a crush on, out on a date but…  
  
Now she was all giggly, and what I hate about witches is that as soon as you ask them out to Hogsmede, they think you're dating.  
  
I’m perfectly happy with wizards who don’t really give a shit and just have sex with you and snog you senseless, not that I’m not looking for a little romance too.  
  
I went to bed with a huge lump in my throat. Albus was sleeping peacefully in the bed next to mine, _with nothing but his boxers…_  
  
God damn it Scorpius Malfoy!  
  
I took one of my pillows and hugged it, pretending it was Albus. Oh Albus… What was he thinking right then?  
  
   
  
*  
  
“Morning.” Matthew said smiling, standing next to his sister. I gave her a small smile, so I wouldn’t seem rude, and took her hand. It was warm and sweaty, but I’d had worse.  
  
Matthew and Albus greeted each other with more warmth, and I almost felt hostile towards Maddie. We all walked out of the castle and started down towards Hogsmede around other students.  
  
She started talking about something funny one of her teammates, one of the beaters, had done during their first practice.  
  
“Who’s your captain?” I asked, just to keep conversation flowing and trying to ignore the fact that Matthew and Albus were leaning in close to each other. I tried to stay solemn, but the fact that Albus was at least a foot taller then Matthew made me want to burst out laughing. He had to do a sort of weird lean up and Albus would have to cock his head down.   
  
   
  
“Hello?” Maddie asked, snapping me back into reality.  
  
 I noticed then how pretty she was. She had brown hair, like her brother, but everything else was remarkably different. Instead of wearing glasses, she wore contacts, they made her brown eyes even more beautiful. She was tall, a lot taller then her remarkably short nerdy brother, and she showed it off well. She had on a pretty mint sweater, and a black skirt that swirled around her knees. Her nails were a chipping sunset orange, and she barely wore makeup except for a small bit of rouge.   
  
She really was very pretty. But pretty wasn’t exactly my cup of tea, and nothing compared it to _handsome_.   
  
I didn’t like bony arms and long hair and sensitivity and beauty products. I liked strong arms and short hair and taking control. I like biceps and abs and deep searching eyes. I liked messy hair and short nails. I liked _b-_  
  
   
  
“Scorpius? Are you feeling okay? Do you want to go back to the castle?”  
  
“No, no I’m fine.” I assured Maddie, who really seemed concerned.  
  
We were sitting in Madame Puttifoot’s sipping tea. I was coughing on confetti and cursing myself for thinking that just because Maddie played quidditch, she would want to go to the Three Broomsticks. I should have taken her there.  
  
I was just glad that Matthew and Albus had decided to go to the Three Broomsticks instead, considering the fact that if they did snog people probably wouldn’t see them and also that two boys at Madame Puttifoot’s together would probably cause a stir of outrage and a whole lot of explaining for our captain to do in the locker rooms when people accused him of checking them out. Honestly, it had gotten better in the Muggle world, but it was still pretty nasty here.   
  
After tea, Maddie and I decided to walk around a bit. She liked to hold my hand and I let her, but I would hate it if she got the wrong idea. We walked to Zonkos and Honeydukes, and I took a quick peek at the quidditch store. In many years, Hogsmede had barely changed, and I liked that timelessness about it.  
  
   
  
Maddie decided she wanted to go back to the castle early, so I complied and followed her back to Hufflepuff. All of the third year puffs and up were in Hogsmede (because the puffs really seemed to love Hogsmede), and all the 1st and 2nd years were fooling about, so we had the whole place to ourselves.  
  
   
  
We sat on the couch, and Maddie held my hand, and I squeezed it back.  
  
 _Fuck, I’ve clearly given her the wrong idea,_  
  
   
  
I let go of her hand and my body took control. I had no idea what I was doing, but I let myself relax and my hands dropped awkwardly by my sides. Our noses bumped and when our lips met I regretted initiating anything immediately. She tasted like peppermint tea, roses and cold air. I tried to think about what I tasted like, but clearly couldn’t come up with anything. Whatever it was, she clearly liked it.  
  
I don’t know what happened after that, but I opened my eyes and saw Albus. But not _Albus_ , Albus was still in Hogsmede on his date with Matthew.  
  
I saw Albus take over for Maddie, and I screamed in my head. This was ridiculous!  
  
All of a sudden, a rift of passion fell on me, and an evil mist fell down. Maddie/Albus moaned into my mouth and I deepened the kiss so much that we almost fell off the couch. She/he ran her/his hands through my hair and whispered my name.   
  
   
  
But when the kiss was over, Albus was gone and it was just Maddie.  
  
I immediately regretted what I’d done. She would be so hurt if she knew. Would I tell her? Absolutely not. Women are crazy, and this is how I know that I can’t be like that with them. They are paranoid and foolish, I feel sorry for all the fuck boys Albus and I hang out with. They’re always talking about their girlfriends, or more complaining about them.  
  
   
  
“Scorpius,” She whispered, putting her hand to her lips. I did the same, and wanted to yell at myself.  
  
   
  
 _Albus was supposed to be your first make out you idiot!_  
  
I know, I’m an inexperienced kid. So what?  
  
 _What more you git?_ “Maddie? Will you go round’ with me?”  
  
“I’d love to.”  
  
 _Fuck me. But seriously don't. Me fuck me. Urgh._  
  
   
  
*  
  
The universe was clearly trying to make a fool out of me, as Maddie was walking me to Slytherin, we crossed her brother leaving.  
  
“Hi,” He said awkwardly, his glasses tipping and his hair ruffled.  
  
“Matthew.” I said, my voice completely plain and nodding my head.  
  
“Night,” Maddie said, when her brother crossed the corner. She stood on her toes and planted a kiss on my cheek, before heading back to her common room.  
  
When I got to the 5th Year Boys dorm, Albus was rocking back and forth holding his knees and blushing. Blushing, _blushing_.  
  
   
  
“Are you, _crying_?” I asked, looking at him. “No,” He laughed. “Just the total opposite.” He whispered.  
  
I sat on the bed, and was actually kind of starting worry. Albus’s voice was calm, but something seemed misplaced.  
  
“He wants to go round’ with me,” He said, suddenly smiling widely. Albus did the same thing Maddie had done earlier after I’d kissed her, he touched his lips.  
  
“Anything you want to tell me?” I asked.   
  
“Do you think the team would feel… I don't know, _weird_ about it?”  
  
“Depends,” I shrugged. “Weird about what?”  
  
“Half an hour ago there was only one kind of couple at this school,” he whispered “now, there are two boys in love, with each other.”  
  
“So, you said ’yes’ when he asked you to go round’ with him?”  
  
“Mmhm.” Albus mumbled. “Should I, feel ashamed about it?”  
  
“What?”  
  
“I kissed another boy, well Matthew kissed me but… Is that weird?”  
  
   
  
I had no idea what to say. I knew I was my father’s boy and if I said anything more it could look strange to Albus, but I wanted to tell him the truth.  
  
Instead I just bid him nice dreams and went to get ready for bed.  
  
   
  
*  
  
The universe was definitely trying to kick me in the arse. I woke up from a dream about Matthew and Albus snogging in the back of the library. And then they were getting married and Rose was telling me something and Maddie thought we were both in love and dear lord.  
  
   
  
“Scorpius, are you okay?”  
  
“Fine.”  
  
“You’re drenched in sweat.”  
  
“I’m fine Albus.” I said, gritting my teeth.  
  
“Oh, okay. What are you doing today?”  
  
“Sleeping, you?”  
  
“I think I might—“  
  
“Yes please do go see Matthew. I’m sure the boy misses his man candy.”   
  
“There’s something up with you and the universe.”  
  
“Okay, Albus please, don’t start with me and the universe this early in the morning. I was joking.”  
  
“Great.” Albus said, and I could hear him changing behind the curtains.  
  
   
  
Fifteen minutes after he’d left I went up to the Great Hall and took Albus and I’s usual place. Albus however, was two tables away, sitting with Matthew.  
  
They had always been pretty good friends, but I was kind of surprised with this. I’d never seen chemistry between them, but then again most eleven to fifteen year old teenage boys don't see chemistry between their two _guy_ friends. Especially considering at that age we didn’t even know what gay even was. I still don’t want to know what it is. And I don’t want to be it, but I don’t know how to start thinking about girls the same way I think about boys.   
  
I don’t even know how they met outside quidditch and class, I think it was through the school newspaper _Hogwarts Weekly_ though.  
  
They were only covertly holding hands, but I was put off by it. I swear I couldn't breath. So filled and corrupted with envy, I left and used my Sunday to study.   
  
   
  
 **Author's Note: Yay, chapter 3! So this is going pretty fast. I already have chapters 4 and 5 written, and six in progress. I really like how this story is going, and I wanted to introduce an OC or two, so I brought in Matthew and Maddie.**  
  
 **I've actually already drawn up plans for the sequel/companion/or other POV (it'll depend), and I've finished the plans for Nothing But Perfect. The sequel will be called Choices To Make, so look out for that when Nothing But Perfect is finished. Anyways I hope you continue to read, and wherever you are in the world, have an amazing day!**  
  
 **-ImaRavenclaw**


	4. Snoggers

_If there was no chance that Albus could love me back before, it was impossible now._

 

* * *

 

 

If I thought it was bad, it got presumably worse. A month passed, and you could tell Albus and Matthew were madly in love. I was kind of thinking it was a mis-judgment and they’d be finished soon, but at that rate “everyone” was convinced they’d live out their lives together.  
  
   
  
 _List of People Aware of Mattbus, the Institution:_  
  
 _Sachi_  
  
 _Scorpius (Me)_  
  
 _Rose_  
  
 _Lily_  
  
 _Albus (obviously)_  
  
 _Matthew (obviously II)_  
  
 _Maddie_  
  
 _A few of Matthew’s friends_  
  
 _Some of Albus’ other friends_  
  
   
  
 _Soon to be the Slytherin and Ravenclaw quidditch teams…And maybe all of Hogwarts._  
  
   
  
“Matthew?” I asked, seconds after striding into the lavatory for a piss.  
  
“Uh, yeah.”  
  
“So, I see you and Albus have expanded reaches to cuddling in bed.”  
  
“Oh, that.” Matthew said awkwardly. “Yeah, uhm, he’s just stressed about a class so—“  
  
“No, no I get it. Have fun."  
  
“No, we’re not—not yet.”  
  
“Oh, okay.” I said, taking my piss and leaving, but then going back in. “Make sure you don’t get caught by any of the other boys, they won’t be as forgiving and they might call you a fag. So I suggest you leave early tomorrow morning.”  
  
“…Thanks for the advice.”  
  
“No problem,” I said cheerily and headed back to bed.  
  
I was woken by the horrifying sound of kissing, and came to realize it wasn’t from my own dreams.  
  
   
  
I ripped open Albus’s bed curtains to reveal him and Matthew curled together.   
  
“Could you two be anymore obvious?!” I hissed loudly.   
  
“Go back to bed Scorpius.” Albus growled, grabbing sheets and blankets at random and covering he and Matthew's half-naked bodies.  
  
“You’re so disgusting, please stop snogging so I can get some sleep. Also, be quiet if you don’t want our dorm mates to wake up and catch you bulge-handed.”  
  
“Not funny.”   
  
   
  
I closed the curtains and crawled back into my bed, shutting my own curtains and huffing out a loud “couples”.  
  
   
  
It really wasn’t them that bothered me, it was the fact that Albus was Matthew’s and not mine.   
  
   
  
*  
  
“Morning.” Maddie said, planting a kiss on my cheek and placing a plate of pancakes in front of me. We were at Slytherin table and she was dotting on me. I wished she was Albus.   
  
“Hi,” I said, not really paying attention. “You should go see Madame Pomfrey.” Maddie suggested, “you look really sick.”  
  
“I’m fine,” I say “just tired.”  
  
“Okay,” she said, unsure. The bell rang. “Oh I have to go. Bye.” She said, and left. I watched her leave, and felt ashamed of myself when I felt the relief wash over me.  
  
   
  
*  
  
I had a free period, so I decided to go to the library for studying. I got my worst subject books that father had forced me to study over the summer, and now I was into improving. Albus had always been the smart one, I wanted to play professional quidditch, but how was I supposed to break that to my dad? That and being gay.  
  
   
  
I went to the back of the library and my heart stopped beating, my voice caught in my throat, my fists clenched, and then I let out a sound like a sort of grunt-whine.  
  
   
  
Albus and Matthew didn’t even seem to notice, and they kept kissing. It wasn’t like when I’d caught them cuddling or holding hands, this was different. This was the big realization.   
  
It almost felt like something from a novel, or a film. The sunlight cast an almost angelic glow on Albus’s beautiful black mop and Matthew’s dishevelled poof of curly brown. Matthew’s hands were up Albus’s shirt and Albus’s hands were running through Matthew’s hair, like Matthew always ran his hands through his own hair.   
  
They were pressing together, moving in synch. My heart had stopped beating, and now it was racing. I wanted to scream and pull them apart, but instead I just turned around and ran back to Slytherin.  
  
   
  
I slammed the door to the 5th year boys and locked it, then broke down crying. I sobbed and rolled, grabbing my knees and rocking back and forth. I knew it wasn’t like we’d been together and he’d cheated on me, or we’d broken up and then he slept with another guy, or like he’d kissed me and then pushed me away and went with someone else to the Yule Ball. He didn’t even know I liked him, so I couldn’t blame him for making out with Matthew in a segregated corner of the library.  
  
But still, I couldn’t help crying.  
  
   
  
*  
  
After the end of the school day, I was troubled with even more about this Matthew and Albus thing.  
  
“Scorpius, I need your advice on something.”  
  
“Hmm?” I said, almost inaudibly.  
  
“Where should I take Matthew on our first _real_ date?”  
  
“Wasn’t Hogsmede your first _real_ date?”  
  
“Yeah, but on Christmas break?”  
  
“Albus, that’s a month away!” I told him, shaking my head. He looked down and nodded, but then he said “I just want it to be perfect.”  
  
“No, I get it. Maybe take him someplace with special meaning to you. The willow tree, maybe?”  
  
   
  
 _I can’t believe you suggested your special place with him! Scorpius it’s like your giving Albus up!_  
  
“Yeah,” Albus smiled, looking up as if thinking about it. “Yeah, I think that’s a good idea.”  
  
“Great, glad I could help.” I said, getting up and getting my things to go study at the library, and then have dinner.  
  
   
  
I went down the stairs and found Sachi and James in the library. “Hey.” James said, waving lightly.  
  
“Hi.” I smiled a little, to give off that I was feeling horrible. “How are you?” Sachi asked. I had no choice but to lie.  
  
“Good.” I said, sitting down. “What are you guys working on?”  
  
“Potions for James, runes for me, you?”  
  
“Charms, maybe.”   
  
   
  
I started work on charms, but I wasn’t exactly studying. It looked like I was, but I was thinking about ways to be conniving and break Albus and Matthew up, then realized how evil that was. Then I thought about Albus and Matthew having sex, and didn’t understand why I even thought of that or how I’d gotten there. After I thought about what Rose would say to me if she knew, being housemates with Matthew she’d have to deal with his whining way more often, if he and Albus did break up.   
  
Soon enough, I needed to leave the library. Not because I kept thinking about earlier that day, but because Matthew had just started his library assistance shift. I’d forgotten he was pretty much the only student that the grumbling and old librarian even liked.  
  
   
  
“Matthew.” I nodded leaving. It seemed to be the only thing I did when I saw him. In the lavatory, ‘Matthew.’ *nods*.In the Great Hall, ‘Matthew.’ *nods*. In class, ‘Matthew.’ *nods*. In Albus and I’s dorm, ‘Matthew.’ *nods*. It was inevitable.  
  
“Scorpius, hi.” He said. I smiled, then started to walk away, but he stopped me with a hand to my chest. I noticed a large black watch on his wrist and then he dropped it. “Can I ask you something?” He asked.  
  
“Shoot,”  
  
“You know him better then anyone. I know it’s kind of awkward and all, and you probably don’t like me much, especially with the whole ‘being gay and dating your best friend’ thing.”  
  
“Matthew, your point?”  
  
“Oh yeah, um… What should I get Albus for Christmas?”  
  
   
 _This question, a month in advance, again?_  
  
I guess I’d help the poor sod out.  
  
“Well, he loves muggle books, if you find any inscriptions of The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells, he loves reading what other people have to say about loved ones. He has a big green sweater fetish, he’s got a bunch. He loves gummy bears, but he doesn’t like the blue ones, so you have to separate them and put the good ones in a plastic baggie. He likes notebooks, fills them quickly with his drawings. He’s very particular, the key is getting to know him.”  
  
“I’m looking forward to it, thanks so much for the advice.” He said, running a hand through his hair.  
  
   
  
Oh no, I realized he’d written it all down in a blue paperback notebook with a Ravenclaw sticker, a fox sticker for a famous company, and an ‘I Heart Toronto’ sticker on it. Matthew meant business.  
  
“Bye,” I said, putting on my best fake smile.   
  
“Goodbye, thanks again!” Matthew said, going back behind the desk.  
  
   
  
I made may way out of the hall, and went to go get some early dinner before heading back to the dorm and getting ready for bed. I was tired and needed rest.  
  
   
  
*  
  
When I woke up, it was about six in the morning, so I decided to take a walk outside.  
  
Cold air wafted over me as I stepped outside, and I realized that there was snow on the ground. It was the 4th of November, and finally the snow we’d all been waiting for had arrived.  
  
   
  
I breathed in and out, and willed myself to feel something other then disappointment.   
  
   
  
 _“How long did it take you to realize your life was so shitty, Scorpius?”_ I asked myself.  
  
 _“_ I don’t know _.”_  
  
   
  
“I thought I was the only one who talked to myself.” Said a very familiar voice. I turned around and saw Lily. “How’s it going with Maddie?”  
  
I knew I could tell Lily anything, almost more then Albus. Lily hated attention, and she was a treasure trove of secrets. It wasn’t that she just found out stuff to blackmail people, no, people trusted her.  
  
“Horrible.”  
  
“I knew it, you like my brother!” Lily cried out.  
  
“Just because I don’t like Maddie doesn’t mean I like Albus, Lily.”  
  
“Sure you don’t.”  
  
“I don’t.” I snapped.   
  
“You _SO_ do!” Lily said. “You’re blushing!”  
  
I rolled my eyes, and put my head in my hands, then snuffed out a “yeah, I do.”  
  
“I knew it!” Lily said, laughing super loudly. “You like my brother. I ship it.”  
  
“Hush now.” I said raising my hands. “But I thought you liked Matthew?”  
  
“I like him fine, but he’s not you, Scorpius. You know Albus better then anyone. I believe the person you have sex with and kiss when they leave the house and you sleep in the same bed with, should be your best friend too.”  
  
   
  
I thought about this for a long while, and it made sense. Lily was almost fourteen, had she been born five days earlier she would have been in 4th year, but she was probably the smartest person at Hogwarts. Maybe there was something to what she had to say. But, I couldn’t do anything about it.  
  
   
  
Matthew and Albus were an exclusive and closed relationship.  
  
   
  
 **Author's Note: So, I guess that the decision to introduce Matthew came almost out of nowhere. I wanted to get more in depth with his character in this chapter. So how did you guys like it?**  
  
 **So, a sneek peak at the next chapter: I'll be doing a lot with Scorpius and Lily's friendship, and also the Scorpius/Maddie relationship (basically Scorpius is going to go full-out to make it seem like he's not into Albus). Also, you get more hints about what went on _t_ _hat day_ and a quick look at Draco. **  
  
 **And two very important extracurriculars in this story (or, lifestyle, as I like to call quidditch), quidditch and Hogwarts Weekly! (The newspaper in this story). So, I hope you join me for that.**  
  
 **Thank you so much for reading 'Snoggers', and wherever you are in the world have an amazing day.**  
  
 **-ImaRavenclaw**


	5. Avoiders

_Maybe if I don't see you again, I'll stop feeling this way._

 

* * *

 

 

I guess it wasn’t really a _new_ decision, I just started avoiding Albus more and more frequently. The more I avoided him, the more he spent his time with Matthew. I was willing myself not to care. Why do you think I was avoiding him?!  
  
   
  
It was a sunny weekend day, the type where the snow sparkles and despite the winter it’s warm, and I was doing my best not to run into Albus or Matthew. Or worse, both of them.   
  
Lily was joining me more and more often on my little walks, and eventually we made it a thing.  
  
Today got a little weird.  
  
Lily and I were talking about plenty of things. Life, Albus and Matthew, Matthew as a person in general, classes, exams, each other. And then, Maddie came up to us.  
  
“Scorpius, I need to know if your serious about _us_.” I did the only thing I could do. I picked her up and placed a kiss on her lips and said “I love you more then anything, Maddie Hennings.”  
  
“I love you too.” She whispered. I put her down and looked into her pretty brown eyes. She gave me a little smile, her teeth amazingly white.   
  
“How about we go on a date over Christmas break?”  
  
“That sounds perfect. I have to go see Matt though, he’s having trouble with something and needs my help.”  
  
   
  
It took me a moment to realize who ‘Matt’ was, but I realized she was talking about Matthew. No one except Maddie ever called him ‘Matt’.   
  
“Okay.”  
  
“Maybe, could you come with me?”  
  
“Uh, are you sure? I mean, he’s your brother.”  
  
“Yeah, he won’t mind.”  
  
   
  
I looked to Lily, who gave me a, ‘maybe he’s broken up with Albus’ face. I shied out, and said to Maddie “actually, can we catch up later? I’m helping Albus’s sister with a guy problem.”  
  
“Sure. Matthew just has a thing about News Paper club, Albus is busy helping out Madame Pomfrey to learn more about healing, and the other five members are— Oh Lily, aren’t you in News Paper club?”  
  
“Yeah, but—“ She started sniffling a little. “I don’t think I’m okay yet. I just need to talk to Scorpius a bit before I see people again.”  
  
“Understood. Bye Lily, Scorpius.” She said, planting a kiss on my cheek and running off to go find her brother.  
  
“What was that?” Lily hissed, wiping fake tears from her face.  
  
“She’s my new cover. She makes a good friend too, though.”  
  
“Oh right, your dad.”  
  
“My dad.” I nodded, looking sadly at her. “I can come see you guys if I go on a few dates with her, then lie about the rest of them.”  
  
“So, are you going to say Maddie’s pureblood?”  
  
“No, Father doesn’t care about blood status anymore. He just cares about how pretty, smart, and girl they are.”  
  
“Oh, since the day that—?”  
  
“Yes.”  
  
   
  
Only I, Albus, his father Harry, his mother Ginny, my father,  and Lily knew what happened _that day_. Father had specifically told me not to tell mother anything, or he’d hurt me again.  
  
   
  
*  
  
When I got back to Slytherin, I heard voices behind Albus’s bed curtain, so I just turned back to the door. Sadly, the creaky floorboard creaked, and Albus called out to me.  
  
   
  
“Scorpius, can we get your opinion on something?”  
  
“Whose we?”  
  
“Matthew, Hank, and I.”  
  
I let out a breath. Hank was in there with them. Hank was the formatter on the Hogwarts Weekly team.  
  
“Yeah.” I opened the curtain, to find them sitting in a pile of scrap papers and layouts. “Why aren’t you guys in the common room?” I asked.  
  
“Quieter in here, better for decision making.” Hank answered.   
  
“Okay, this layout, or his one?” Albus asked, holding up two sheets of paper.  
  
“The one on the left. I have to go see Lily though.”  
  
“Okay, great. Don’t forget we have quidditch practice at 5:30.”  
  
“I won’t.” I said, leaning in to give him a hug, which he accepted readily. Matthew proved to be almost nothing like me. Seeing them hug, made me jealous, but Matthew didn’t seem at all bothered by the fact that I’d just embraced his boyfriend. Probably because he thought I was into girls.  
  
   
  
I went to the library to find Lily. She was helping me with charms. For a lot of people, charms was super easy, but I was horrid at it. So I listened closely, and kept my mind of Albus as much as much as I could.  
  
   
  
*  
  
For the rest of the year, nothing really interesting had happened during quidditch, I’d tuned out most of it. But today, Albus was hard on me.  
  
“Scorpius, you’ve been playing mediocre for the last two games. I need you to really be your best seeker. Okay?”  
  
“Okay. I’ll do my best.”  
  
   
  
We went outside, and Albus drilled me. Soon I realized we were the only ones there.   
  
   
  
“I made you come half an hour early, so I could drill you.”  
  
“Great move coachie.” I said sarcastically, racing around the field and doing different manoeuvres to grab the snitch. The wind made my hair fly back, and chilled me to the bone.  
  
“Yeah!” Albus shouted out, as I dived to get the snitched. “You got your touch back. You just needed to focus.”  
  
   
  
He pushed my hair back when I got to the ground and gave me a genuine smile. I wondered if that would make Matthew jealous, but it probably wouldn’t.  
  
   
  
Right now, Matthew seemed to have it all. Quidditch captain, editor in chief of Hogwarts Weekly, Outstandings on every assignment, accepting family, library assistant, looks, smarts, and the perfect boyfriend.   
  
   
  
“Again. Until everyone gets here.”  
  
“But I’m so tired.” I groaned, leaning into him. At first, he caressed my face, but then he jerked his hand away, realizing what he had done.  
  
“Go.” He said firmly, looking away. I didn’t exactly think he met ‘go fly again’, I thought he meant leave. But he handed me my broom and motioned towards the field.   
  
   
  
I did as told, and went for another round as the rest of the Slytherin quidditch team showed up and started flying around the pitch.   
  
   
  
Soon Albus was directing everyone, and practice was in motion.  
  
Lily showed up about three quarters through practice, and gave me a wave. She was sitting with Maddie and Rose. Maddie blew me a kiss and Rose gave me a smile. I waved back, then went back to flying.  
  
   
  
Albus went off the sidelines, and I joined him.  
  
   
  
“Little sister, you aren’t supposed to be here. Neither are you Rose?”  
  
“Why, because we’re Ravenclaw?” Lily asked stubbornly. “I’m not going anywhere.” She added.  
  
Lily and Rose were both chasers for Ravenclaw. Matthew was the third chaser and captain, Louis and Dominique Weasley were the team beaters, and Grason Green was keeper.   
  
“You could bring intel back to Matthew.”   
  
“Please Albus, we’re in the same house as him and you two spend way more time together then all of Ravenclaw put together. Plus it’s a Slytherin-Gryffindor quidditch match, it’s not like you don’t change the plays!” Rose said. Lily nodded, agreeing.  
  
“Fine, you can stay.”  
  
“Shall we make the unbreakable vow not to tell anyone anything about your plays?”  
  
“Not necessary.”  
  
“Great, mostly because I have no idea how."  
  
We went back to quidditch practice, and Albus complained about his sister. He took off and flew to Talia Zabini, who was making a pass to Tom Brown. Albus intercepted and passed back to Talia.  
  
   
  
After practice, we hit the showers. The other boys, Tom, and Jace, didn’t take long in the showers. So, it ended up being just me and Albus.  
  
I could hear the shower running beside me, and my body froze. Albus, though separated by a wall, was next to me. _Naked_.  
  
   
  
I put a towel around myself and stopped my shower, then got out. A few minutes later, I heard Albus’s shower stop. I freaked, got dressed quickly, and barely managed to escape. I saw about a portion of his chest and bare arse as he realized there was no one else in there and he could change freely. I ran for the hills and slid into the great hall for a late dinner.  
  
When I finished, I went up to Sytherin and got ready for bed. If I wanted to be ready for tomorrow's quidditch game, I needed to rest.  
  
   
  
**Author's Note: That marks chapter five! I love how this story is going, and hope you love it too. I appreciate reviews so much, so please take three minutes (out of of 1440 minutes!) of your day to say something. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and I'll have the next one up soon.**  
  
**In the next chapter you can look forward to even more with Lily and Scorpius, a quidditch game, more Draco, and some Matthew drama.**  
  
**Thank you for reading, and wherever you are in the world have an amazing day.**  
  
**-ImaRavenclaw**


	6. Rules

_The preconceived unwritten rules of our society, ripped my boy to pieces. But he's not my boy._

 

* * *

 

 

 

I raced after the snitch I’d just got a glimpse of in the misty snow fall. The wind was blowing extremely strong, and I was almost knocked off my broom more then once.  
  
This couldn’t get any worse.  
  
Albus flew passed me and barked something about hurrying up. I looked to the scoreboard and realized that Gryffindor was ahead by ten points. If they got twenty more, we wouldn’t be able to beat them just by catching the snitch.  
   
  
I flew at full speed, and did a tumbling motion to grab the snitch. Mr and Mrs Potter were here, and so were my parents. I needed to be impressive. I flipped into a dive, and then rolled once I’d reached the ground.  
  
  
It was hard for Harry and Ginny, because James, Sachi, and other family friends and family were on Gryffindor team, but Albus and I were on Slytherin.  
  
Most of the students went up into the stands, and I did too.   
  
“Good job Scorpius!” Mr. Potter said, giving me a pat on the back.  
  
“Thank you Mr. Potter.”  
  
“Harry, please. You haven’t been round’ in so long that your calling us Mr. and Mrs. Potter now. You’ll have to come by over break.” He laughed.  
  
“That’s the plan.” I said. Ginny congratulated me and then praised James for good effort.   
  
My parents came over, mother gave me a hug and father shook my hand. “Good job Scorpius. We’re proud.” I barely ever heard him say ‘I’m proud’, so it meant a lot.  
  
“Scorpius, have you seen Al?”  
  
  
“Oh my god.” Said an exasperated voice. I turned around to see James pointing at something. I followed the line of his arm and I saw the inevitable.   
  
Matthew’s legs were wrapped around Albus’s hips and they were kissing. Albus’s hands snaked around Matthew’s neck, and he kissed deeper.  
  
“Is that Albus?” Ginny asked, not angry but surprised.   
  
“Who’s that boy with him?” Harry asked me, probably wondering if I even knew.  
  
“I should let him tell you himself.” I said, trying to smile. My father made something like a noise of disgust, and shook his head in disapproval, not letting Harry, Ginny, James, or Mother see.   
  
   
  
Soon after, Albus came over, holding Matthew’s hand.   
  
“Mum, Dad, James,” He said. “This is my boyfriend, Matthew Hennings.”  
  
Harry shook his hand, and I could hear indistinct happy-sounding conversations as I drifted to the side with my family.   
  
   
Mother said she’d wait for Father by the entrance. He pulled me aside from all the other families and students, and almost dragged me by the ear to the back of the stands.  
  
   
“I don’t want you seeing Albus anymore. I don’t need his filthy lifestyle rubbing off on you. You’re the Malfoy heir.”  
  
“Father, he’s my best friend. I promise I won’t let him rub off on me.” I said, even though the last bit meant nothing. “Plus we’re dorm mates, it will be hard to avoid him.”  
  
“Fine, a small amount. But if I ever catch you doing something like _that_ , I will kill you.”  
  
   
He probably meant to say _something like that again_. But he didn’t. He didn’t want to admit what I’d done.   
  
   
  
  
*  
  
“I saw him take you behind the pitch after the game.” Lily said. “What did he talk to you about?”  
  
“Just quidditch. He just likes privacy.” I lied, even though Lily would probably see through it.  
  
“Did Maddie see you after the game?”  
  
“Yeah, we made out before the party.”  
  
“You’re disgusting.” Lily said, rolling her eyes.  
  
I laughed and said “yeah, I know.”  
  
“What about at the party?”  
  
“She took me in to the back, a dark room, and…We talked!” I exclaimed, throwing my hands up and making jazz hands.  
  
“You scare me.” Lily told me, widening her brown eyes playfully. “Let me guess, you want Albus to be your first?”  
  
“Yeah,”  
  
   
  
I thought it was a good moment to give her the Christmas/Birthday/Thanks for all the advice, present.  
  
I took a large red wrapped package out of my bag and gave it to her. She took it and opened it.  
  
I’d made her a ceramic model of the Potter house in Godric’s Hollow, that Harry had worked tirelessly on fixing up. I’d also gotten her a picture of her, Albus, and James, that I’d taken when I’d gotten really into photography. Twelve year old Albus, fourteen year old James, and ten year old Lily waved up happily at us. Harry and Ginny walked into the frame and smiled with their children.  
  
   
  
She smiled and wrapped her arms around me. “This is great Scorpius, I love it so much.”  
  
“I’m glad you like it. One more thing,” I said, holding up a finger and taking the card out of my messenger bag.    
  
   
It was a beautiful water colour painting that she’d done, of a boy with plenty of colourful balloons. Inside, I wrote a long note thanking her for the advice and the walks and all she’d done for me. And a picture of eleven year old me and nine year old Lily, waving and smiling.  
  
   
  
She grinned. “You always did make a better brother then Al and Jamie. I remember I always stole you from Al, and always butted in and tried to have fun with you guys. James and Albus would always say ‘no’, but you’d insist that I come.”  
  
“Yeah, good times.”  
  
“I love you, Scorpius. As a brother.” She laughed, giving me a giant bear hug. I hugged her back, and breathed in her warm honey smell. If I was into witches, I would have claimed her long ago.  
  
“I love you too. We should go, it’s almost curfew.”  
  
“Yeah, don’t want my brother taking points from any Slytherinclaws.”  
  
   
I gave Lily one last hug, and left the library with her trailing behind me. I bid her a good sleep, and we went our separate ways. Me, to the draughty Slytherin common room (that wouldn’t be so cold if people stopped using spells to make it so eerie and stereotypically Slytherin). And Lily to the tippy top of the castle, Ravenclaw tower.  
  
   
  
For some reason I wasn’t surprised when I saw Albus’s bed curtains wide open and his bed made and empty.  
  
   
I went to the lavatory and was brushing my teeth, when I heard a loud ‘mmphft!’  
  
I went over to the stalls, where it had seemed to be coming from, and opened them one by one.  
  
   
  
“Mmphft!” I heard again. I opened the last stall and—  
  
   
“Matthew?!” I exclaimed. What had our housemates done to him? He was taped to the toilet, and his mouth was taped closed. As I predicted, the word ‘fag’ was written on his forehead in bright red marker. “That’s gotta’ be permanent.” I cringed, moving to un-tape his hands and take off the piece covering his mouth.  
  
“Is Albus okay?” He asked as soon as the tape was off.   
  
“I haven’t seen him,” I said, all of a sudden extremely concerned. What could they have done to him? “But anyways, Al will be fine. Let’s find him.” I started to walk away, but Matthew called after me.  
  
“Uh, Scorpius, my arse is still taped to the toilet.”  
  
“Right,” I said, going back to finish.  
  
   
  
Once I’d freed Matthew from the John of Horror, he grabbed my wrist and we went to find Albus. Matthew’s determination didn’t waver. If it had been me, I’m sure I would’ve been angry, and more determined to find the goons who did it and punch them in the face. But the only thing Matthew was worried about, was not revenge, but his boyfriend. Admirable.  
  
   
  
Eventually, Albus ran into us.   
  
   
“Not surprised that you’re okay. They wouldn’t have hurt Harry Potter’s son, and you can defend yourself anyways. Not that Matthew can’t—uh, I don’t think I’m needed anymore, so just tell me if there’s anymore problems.”  
  
I went back to the dorm, but before turning the corner I saw Albus put his hand on Matthew’s back, and walk him back to his house. He probably whispered something like ‘I’m glad you’re safe’, because Matthew smiled and took Albus’ hand once he’d dropped it from Matthew’s back.  
  
   
  
Maybe _they_ were for the best.  
  
   
  
*  
  
In the early hours of the morning, I was lightly shaken awake. I blinked my eyes open to see Albus sitting on the end of my bed.  
  
“I just, I wanted to thank you for saving Matthew today. He told me what happened.”  
  
“Oh. It’s no problem, but Albus, it’s late. I’m gonna sleep.”  
  
“Oh, yeah. Just, one more thing.”  
  
“Hmm.”  
  
“How’s it with Maddie?”  
  
   
  
_Really? This question again?_  
  
“Why do you ask?”  
  
“I just—never mind. Sleep well.”  
  
“You too.” The weight shifted and he left, going back to his own bed. I tossed and turned a bit, pondering why he’d asked a question like that at about four in the morning. Eventually, I fell asleep, wondering if I was missing something.  
  
   
  
*  
  
I was eating with Lily at Ravenclaw, when everyone seemed to go silent. I turned around as soon as Lily whispered “Oh, Al.”  
  
Matthew and Albus were walking in. You could hear a pin drop in the silence. People at Slytherin and Gryffindor, and some Ravenclaws, started snickering. Albus seemed to notice this right away, because he grabbed Matthew’s hand protectively and drew him close. They came over and sat down next to us.  
  
   
  
“Morning.” Albus said, as if nothing had changed from yesterday.   
  
“Albus—“ Lily started, but was cut off by him. “We’re fine Lily. Seriously, leave it.” He snapped.  
  
   
  
Matthew had clearly never seen this side of him, and he looked a bit worried. I gave him a reassuring look that said ‘he’s just stressed’. I had been content holding a grudge against Matthew, but it didn’t seem like a very nice thing to do. Especially since he’d spent at least an hour taped to a toilet.   
  
   
  
“Pass the bacon please.” Albus said politely to Jason Coroff.   
  
“Get it yourself, fag.”   
  
“Pass the bacon please.” Albus’ tone didn’t even change, he just looked at Jason and stared him down.  
  
“Are you deaf Potter, or just stupid? I heard being queer can do that to you.”  
  
“Excuse me—“ Lily barked, standing up.  
  
“Lily,” I said, gritting my teeth and pulling her down.  
  
“I’m sorry Jason, last time I checked, you got a Troll in Potions in 3rd year, and that’s why you don’t have the fifth or fourth year text book. Also, I’m quidditch captain.” Matthew stood up,  growling.  
  
“How the fuck did you know that?!” Jason spat angrily.   
  
“I know a lot of things, Coroff.” He said impatiently. “Now pass Albus the bacon before you want everyone else hearing any of your other dirty secrets.”  
  
Jason threw the bacon at Albus, and scoffed. “I’ll pass the bacon nicely when you realize you’re disgusting.”   
  
   
  
_My father would’ve been 1000 times worse._ I thought.  
  
   
  
“At least you didn’t get taped to a toilet.” Matthew said quietly as Jason left, rubbing at the remnants of the red marker.  
  
   
  
Another silence, and James’ voice could be heard loudly throughout the hall.  
  
   
  
“Mess with my brother again and I rip your balls off, git!” He yelled angrily. Afterwards, James came over.  
  
“I’m glad you’re okay with it.”  
  
“I’m not Albus.” James said, rather annoyed. “It’s not so much about you having a—boyfriend—it’s about you not telling me!” He said, then left.   
  
“He hasn’t ever called me ‘Albus’.” Was all Albus could say.  
  
“Maybe we should go,” Lily said, leading her brother away, Matthew and me following.  
  
   
  
*  
  
“The professors didn’t care?!” Rose asked, outraged. She was furiously flourishing her wand furiously at Matthew’s forehead. “There.” She said, satisfied when the mark had completely disappeared.  
  
“Didn’t seem to.” Lily said “If I was 70 I wouldn’t, I mean it’s not exactly their area of expertise.”    
  
“Oh my god! I’m sending a complaint to my parents.”  
  
“What are your parents going to—?” Matthew started, but was cut off abruptly by Rose.  
  
“They work at the ministry, high positions. Wait, Albus, remind me how your parents took it.”  
  
“Dad was a bit uneasy, he got used to it quickly, and he says he’s proud of me no matter what. Mum’s just happy I’ve got someone.”  
  
“Matthew?”  
  
“I’m muggleborn, so I was fine. My parents didn’t even blink.”   
  
   
  
We all seemed relieved that their parents were fine, but we still had to deal with all these gits that we called peers.   
  
   
  
“Everyone literally hates us. Even Jamie!” Albus said, for the first time in this whole thing, breaking down.”   
  
   
  
Matthew was quick to comfort him, and Albus was affected by the touch. The horrid feelings he had seemed to disappear. He made an attempt to smile at Matthew, but it only lasted half a second.  
  
“Jamie doesn’t hate you. He just needs time, you know how he is.” Lily said.  
  
“He hates change.” Rose added.  
  
   
  
Albus seemed to take this as a good thing, and he and Matthew looked a bit better. “People need to start moving into the 21st century. The muggles are doing fine. But us, us.”  
  
   
  
Everyone nodded in agreement, and it was then that I realized how good it was that Albus had not been mine. I would have been impulsive, done the same thing as Matthew.  
  
  
  
The difference is that my parents wouldn’t have been as forgiving.  
  
   
  
   
  
**Author’s Note: So, here is the end of Chapter 6. I hope this chapter wasn’t too harsh, because it’s going to get harsher. By the way, I got the idea for the ’toilet taping’ from the movie 17 Again, starring Zac Efron. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and wherever you are in the world, have an amazing day!**  
  
   
  
**-ImaRavenclaw**


	7. Flames

_What will happen if I can't contain myself? I'll burn in the flames of regret._

__

* * *

 

 

A week passed. They say things grow on people with time, but I’m not sold. I had no idea if Albus had gone through anything else, but I think his dreams were plagued with memories from _that day_.  
  
   
  
I couldn’t even imagine how Matthew felt. People were more hesitant on Albus (probably because his father is Harry Potter), but Matthew had become the entire school’s new punching bag. They’d hit him with words and fists and objects. He’d seen Madame Pomfrey at least once a day every day this week.  
  
   
  
Now, he and Albus both tried to avoid their dormitories until they were sure everyone had fallen asleep. Still, it wasn’t very fun to discover their pranks. Matthew (who was a night shower person), had found all of his body wash and shampoo replaced with witch’s shaving creme and smelly perfume. He’d also had all his shoes stolen, and replaced by his dorm mates sister’s heels, and a nasty list of synonyms for his “condition”.   
  
   
  
Albus had found a stack of heterosexual pornography magazines, and his broom painted pink, his broom polish replaced with glittery nail polish. There had been so many magazines, he’d spent almost all of Saturday morning burning them. He put the nail polish in the other boys trunks, and then checked to see if the broom they’d painted was his old or new one. It was their fault for not looking at the model, and Albus was glad his brand new super expensive and super fast 2,000 galleon broom had been spared.  
  
   
  
When Rose found out what the Ravenclaw and Slytherin boys had done, they spent the rest of the day vomiting slugs.  
  
   
  
*  
  
“I’ve never seen Matt like this.” Maddie said, with the most worried tone ever. “When do you think they’ll stop hurting him?” I didn’t answer, even though I could tell she need reassurance that Matthew would be okay. I felt bad about not being in tune, but I had my own issues.  
  
   
  
I stared out the window, at the falling snow. I wished I was a snowflake, just falling and falling until I died. Not that snowflakes die.  
  
   
  
“Scorpius.” I turned around at the sound of his voice. “I need you. Maddie, you need to come too.”   
  
   
  
We followed Albus out of the Hufflepuff dormitory, and he led us up the stairs. It took 5 flights and getting past the Great Hall to figure out that we were going to the infirmary.  
  
   
  
I didn’t even want to look at him. He didn’t even look like Matthew anymore. Albus was probably more hurt, I couldn’t look at Albus either.  
  
   
  
“Albus, I can’t.” I said, almost inaudibly. I turned around and left. I could hear Maddie crying and Albus pacing and I could hear Madame Pomfrey telling them he’d have to go home.   
  
   
  
I walked fast. I walked away. I regretted leaving Albus there, but it wasn’t my place. It wasn’t a good time to say… _I love you._  
  
_I love you… I love you… I love you…_  
  
_I love you… I love you… I love you…_  
  
   
  
_ALBUS I LOVE YOU… I love you._  
  
   
  
   
  
Just being there and seeing the way Albus looked at him. _The way he’d never look at me! The way I dreamed of him seeing me! The way his green eyes sparkled and shined! The way he laughed and cried! When he protected his sister and was protected by his older brother! When he read, and he’d look up and he’d smile my way! When he’d wave his wand, and it wouldn’t be violent, it’d be beautiful, like he was beautiful!_ And I couldn’t help but think this fast.  
  
   
  
I was breaking down.   
  
I needed to tell my story.  
  
   
  
_SCORPIUS HYPERION MALFOY!_  
  
   
  
I sobbed and sobbed as his voice attacked my head. My father couldn’t even leave my mind. I had no idea how I’d ended up in the Prefect boys washroom, or how I’d slid down and locked the door. How I’d started all the sinks and the large tub and all the showers.  
  
   
  
I was going insane.  
  
   
  
It was like I’d gone deaf. I couldn’t hear it, but I saw the glass and I saw the blood. _My blood_. I was smashing the mirrors…  
  
   
  
I couldn’t stop. It hurt, but I couldn’t stop. My ears started ringing and the sounds of the world resurfaced. I could hear my own sobbing now and I saw the red against the clear and the reflections and I saw it on my skin. I fell to the floor and curled into a ball of thundering sobs and—  
  
   
  
“Scorpius,” Her voice was soft like honey, and I could hear her footsteps running over. “What have you done?!” She cried, scooping me up into her lap. “You need Madame Pomfrey. You’re hurt!”   
  
“No, he can’t see me like this—he can’t he just CAN’T, LILY!” I yelled at her, sobbing.  
  
“Albus isn’t there.” She whispered. “They’ve moved Matthew to a private ward, he’s there with him.” She said soothingly.   
  
“AND THAT’S SUPPOSED TO MAKE ME FEEL BETTER?!”  
  
“Shhhh,” she said. “It’ll be alright.”  
  
“No it _won’t_ Lily!” I sobbed turning over and trying to get up. My hands stung and eventually I let them leave the ground and I fell back to the floor.  
  
   
  
I was surprised with how strong Lily was, or at least hopefully it was Lily.   
  
   
  
“I’m taking you to the infirmary. I’ll tell her you accidentally flourished your wand too much when you were trying to preform diffindo. You can’t lose control again Scorpius, you’ll hurt yourself more. You need to promise me you will see someone if you feel out of control again, even if you have to hide it from your father. Do you promise me?”  
  
   
  
“…I promise.” I whispered, almost unsure.   
  
   
  
*  
  
“Why is he in here Lily?”  
  
“Diffindo gone wrong.”  
  
I heard their voices and I pretended to sleep. I didn’t want him here… So I went back to sleep.  
  
   
  
Madame Pomfrey came over as soon as I’d woken. She said that my wounds were cured and I could go, so I did. I left. Maybe I left myself and I didn’t even notice.   
  
   
  
   
  
**Author's Note: So sorry for the short chapter and abrupt ending, I was having trouble with this one. I hope you enjoyed this, I had another idea before the smashing mirrors, but it came to me at 4 in the morning while watching Free Willy, which is... weird. So I picked up my computer and started writing. I hope it wasn't too harsh for you all. I think this was one of my favourite chapters to write, but I dunno. Also, I'd have to give a big thank you to the song 'In This Shirt' by The Irrepressibles, because it really set the tone for the writting the mirrors scene. I'll see you next time (hopefully...) and wherever you are in the world, have a wonderful day!**  
  
**-ImaRavenclaw**

__

 

 

 


	8. Comforts

_If only it would last. If only it was like this in real life._

 

* * *

 

 

Palm in palm? I jerked awake and turned to looked at Albus. “Morning sleepy,” He said sadly, squeezing my hand.  
  
“Morning.” I replied, letting my eyes flutter closed again and pretending this small second was my life.  
  
“Matthew’s gone home. His condition is awful. They haven’t found out who beat him up yet, but Nevill says he’ll most likely expel them.” He said, starting to cry a little. “I’m worried about him,” He let go of my hand. “I miss him already.”  
  
“How long have I been asleep?”   
  
“Just all afternoon yesterday. Matthew left while you were sleeping, I came after. I—I needed you.”  
  
   
  
I couldn’t say anything. He wasn’t holding my hand anymore, but—  
  
This was the moment I’d wanted forever. I’d thought about it thousands and millions of times. I’d dreamt about it, wanked to it, daydreamed about it, even wrote about it. It was happening… But it didn’t feel right.  
  
His lips were soft and so were his hands. He squeezed a muscle that I hadn’t even noticed before, and he started unbuttoning my shirt. I knew this was bad, but I couldn’t stop. His face was wet with tears and I could hear little whimpers. And then, it was over. It was nothing like I’d expected, I was glad that it was over.  
  
“I am so sorry Scorpius. I shouldn’t have done that. You’re with Maddie, I’m with Matthew. He needs me and I just— I blew— I’m sorry. I know you don’t want to talk about—“  
  
“That day?” I whispered. “I don’t. One day, but not now.”  
  
“I understand, he said, taking my hand and letting it go.”  
  
“I know you feel like you betrayed Matthew. It’s fine, I didn’t feel anything.” _Liar._  
  
“… But I _did_.” He whispered, and left. I sat there, my shirt open revealing my pale chest, with my mouth agape.  
  
   
  
He _felt something_?  
  
   
  
*  
  
“I’m really worried about my brother.” I couldn’t remember who I was talking to. Lily or Maddie? Maddie’s brother had just been beaten up, Lily’s brother just kissed me. “Babe, are you okay?” Maddie.   
  
“Fine.” I lied, looking at her big brown eyes. She smiled lightly, and pushed my blonde hair out of my eyes. “Can you take me away.”  
  
   
  
 _No way. Not ever. Maddie, I’m sorry, but—_  
  
   
  
“Yes.” GOD DAMNIT SCORPIUS! YOU’RE LEADING HER ON, IDIOT!  
  
   
  
I kissed her and kissed her and kissed her. Today, she tasted like Shepard’s Pie and pumpkin juice. I didn’t care, I just had to pretend she was Albus and I could do anything. I knew it was wrong to do this to her, but with enough effort maybe one day I’d really love her. Maybe I’d get married to her.   
  
I bit her lip teasingly and she dug her nails into my shoulder and ran her other hand through my hair. She eventually moved to nibble on my ears and started with her tongue as I’d been using mine. I was so mad, all I saw was Albus.   
  
   
  
   
  
When we finished, Maddie and I talked more. “There’s a party in the Room of Requirement, and even though I’m sad about Matt, it’d be fun to go.”  
  
   
  
“Yeah,” I said “sure.”   
  
“Great!” She said. “I’ll see you later.”   
  
   
  
She left, probably to go to Hufflepuff, leaving a scent of mint and spices behind.  
  
   
  
*  
  
“Albus, you’re drunk!” I yelled, pushing the kissing boy off of me. His boyfriend was hurt. I wanted him, but I’m a patient person, and I didn’t want him to cheat on Matthew. I don’t know, sometimes I did, sometimes I didn’t. It changed. Sometimes I couldn’t wait, sometimes I could.   
  
   
  
“Scorp, I want you.” He slurred.   
  
“You’ll regret this tomorrow!” I said pushing him off and running out before I could change my mind. I ran down to Slytherin and went to bed, realizing it was three in the morning right before I fell into the rifts of sleep.   
  
   
  
   
  
“Scorpius, wake up!”  
  
“What now?” I rolled over, throwing a pillow at whoever was trying to drag me out of bed.  
  
   
  
She was sitting there, her eyes red with tears. “Matthew isn’t improving, they’ve sent him to Mungo’s, last night.”  
  
“No wonder Albus was drunk.” I muttered, caressing Maddie’s face.   
  
“I’m just super stressed out. We have OWLs to study for, quidditch, extracurriculars, getting enough sleep, and on top of that Matthew and Albus are being harmed left an right! Wait, Albus was drunk last night?”  
  
“Yeah, he tried to have sex with me.”  
  
“Oh my god. Everyone is going mad!”  
  
“He was off his head, he doesn’t actually like me… He _loves_ Matthew.” I said, no matter how painful.   
  
“Matthew loves him too. Apparently he was delirious, he kept asking and asking for Albus. Mum and Dad said he’d keep passing out and saying nonsense. Dad, he’s a healer, Dad said ‘I’ve heard the ravings of the mad, and even Matty is more insane then them, right now’. I’m so worried about him.”  
  
“I know you are.” I said, putting my hand on hers and kissing her on the forehead.   
  
She continued to cry and eventually she said “can I sleep in here tonight.”  
  
   
  
She wasn’t exactly who I wanted in my bed. “Yes.” I said, regardless, and got her under the covers, as she was still sobbing.  
  
   
  
*  
  
“Lily, did you hear about—“  
  
“Matthew? Yeah, Albus has been blubbering on and on about it. As if I don’t already know everything, I’m the one who found him.”  
  
“What?”  
  
“Yeah, I was on our usual morning walk, and he was bleeding in the snow.”  
  
“What time did you bring him in? Albus told me that Madame Pomfrey said it must have been an hour before. Like, seven or something. If not he would have been dead. His attacker used sectumsempra.”  
  
“Isn’t that illegal?”  
  
“They didn’t seem to care. People are so bigoted.” I said, shaking my head. Even though I was green with envy, Matthew was still a good person and I think we were pretty good friends by now.   
  
“What if it was more then being bigoted? What if something bad is happening?”  
  
“You mean like ‘soul of Voldemort’ bad or ‘Death Eaters have escaped’ bad. I think it was just some 7th year who did some snooping around in the junk that’s stuffed in the room of requirement.”  
  
“Yeah, but most of the stuff burned in that big fire. My dad saved your dad.”  
  
“Who knows. And you didn’t answer my question, when did you find him?”  
  
“8:30, the sun was rising. I wanted to fit a walk in before lessons. I had early morning potions.”  
  
“That explains it.”  
  
“Scorpius, I’m worried.”   
  
“About what?”  
  
“What if history is repeating itself?” Unexpectedly, I laughed. “Lily! I highly doubt any sensible Death Eater would bother wasting their time trying to kill Matthew!”  
  
“What if they were just trying a killing spree?”  
  
“Relax. Neville will find the bigoted bloke who did this, and everything will be okay. But I promise you, it’s not history repeating itself.” I said, and drew her in close, smelling her hair and holding her against me for what seemed like forever.  
  
“You’re my best friend.” She whispered, wrapping her arms around me and breathing in.  
  
“Yeah, you too.” I told her, and squeezed her tight.  
  
   
  
 **Author's Note: Thanks for reading Comforts! If you want to find out more about what happened to Matthew, I'll have a one-shot up soon called Maybe One Day. It's told from his point of view and describes the events before, during, and after the attack.**  
  
   
  
 **The line 'I've heard the ravings of the mad, and even Matty's more insane then them right now.' Is based off a line from the podcast Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality. The original line is 'I've heard the ravings of the mad in St. Mungo's, and they were by far more sensible then you are, Potter.'**  
  
 **In the Half-Blood Prince, they are mentioning the Potions Book in which Sectumsempra (created by Severus Snape) is written. They also referenced the fire in the ROR in the Deathly Hallows, where Harry saves Draco.**  
  
 **I looked up the sunrise and sunset times for December in Scotland, so if anything is wrong (Lily finds Matthew at first light and Matthew is attacked right before the sun starts rising), please feel free to tell me.**  
  
 **Thanks so much for reading, I hope to see you next chapter, and wherever you are in the world have an awesome day!  
**  
  
 **-ImaRavenclaw**  
  
 


	9. Days

_He can't seem to decide. I can't seem to understand how many mistakes I've made._

 

* * *

It was five days until Christmas break. Albus and Maddie were bouncing off the walls with excitement, as Matthew was making a steady and would be home for Christmas. He and Albus would be able to go on their date and Maddie would have him for all their ‘Chrismasy Twin Rituals’.

 

I was with Sachi and Ollie, but Sachi was barely paying attention because she was trying to teach Ollie a new trick. Eventually, the dog rolled over, and she decided she had something on her mind.

 

“How long do you think Albus liked Matthew. Before we knew, I mean.”

 

“I don’t know, perhaps a good question.” I made a mental note to ask him later, if it hadn’t been that long then maybe it make me feel better.

 

“The only thing I know is that it wasn’t anytime when we were twelve.”

 

“How do you know that?” _Lie Scorpius! LIE! DON’T TELL HER ANYTHING OR I SWEAR TO GOD I—_

 

“I need to tell you something.”

 

*

 

Lily and I were lounging in the astronomy tower/classroom, chatting and picking fun at each other. We had plenty of different places to hang out, and we’d even brought sleeping bags up here and hid them in the back of the telescope cupboard.

 

“Did Albus tell you anything about Matthew before asking him out?” _What makes everyone think I know so much about Matthew? I literally have no idea._

 

“He asked me for advice the same day. That’s how long I knew. What about you?”

 

“I didn’t know about Matthew, but I knew he liked someone for a while, I was just thinking it was a girl.”

 

“Since when?”

 

“I was—“ She counted on her fingers. “I think I had just turned 12. Albus was 13 turning 14 in a week. Why do you ask?” She ran her hands through her hair after sitting up. It was still static-y from the sleeping bag. She gave me a worried look, and when I didn’t answer her question after a while, she just shook her head and said “never mind”.

 

We were silent for a long while, so we ended up just leaving the tower and going for dinner. We trotted down the long staircases and into the Great Hall, where we sat with Sachi and Rose. James had been avoiding us lately, and would only talk to Sachi if there was no chance of us being around. He was clearly still angry with Albus. Sachi and Rose were engaged in a conversation about quidditch, so Lily and I just started our own conversations. She had to bring me back several times, as I kept zoning out. I hadn’t seen Albus for two weeks and I was starting to worry, no one else had seemed to notice his sudden disappearance.

 

“I have to go to the washroom.” I said. It wasn’t a complete lie, but I definitely had to check. I ran as fast as I could to the second to last floor, and made my way into the abandoned corridor near the bathroom where the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets was. Albus couldn’t get in of course, as he hadn’t inherited the gift of being a parseltongue, but he liked to hang out around there.

 

I had no idea why Albus had always liked it there, if not for all the artifacts it possessed. I didn’t know what I’d expected, but I found him camped out in a corner, sleeping with _the_ cloak covering half his body, as if he’d wanted no one to know he was here, but had fallen asleep and knocked off half of the cloak.

 

“Albus?” I whispered, shaking him awake.

 

“How did you find me?” He groaned not opening his eyes.

 

“Well, you’re only half invisible.”

 

“No, I mean how did you think to come up here?”

 

“You’re always up here when you’re upset.” 

 

_Albus was twelve when he’d started coming up here. Albus was twelve when we’d started slowly, bit by bit, drifting apart. And memories flashed into my head. Albus, Albus’ lips, my father, my father walking in, my father passing us in a corridor, and everything else I had associated with a rather dark past that lingered in the back closet of my mind like an unused toy, finally being taken out and played with again._

 

“Scorpius? You haven’t spoken for a few minutes.”

 

“Sorry, I just.” I didn’t continue, but Albus was there to finish my sentence with a shrug.

 

“Have a lot on your mind.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

We stared at each other for what seemed like forever, and then unexpectedly, he brought his hand to my cheek and seemed to gaze at my face. “Do you still think about it?”

 

I knew exactly what he was talking about, but I didn’t say anything, and just pretended to not know what he was talking about.

 

“Oh come on, you know exactly what I’m talking about.” He rolled his eyes at me, but still did not take his hand away from its spot on my jaw.

 

“Sometimes I still dream about it.”

 

“Do you still dream about me?” He asked. It was an extremely dangerous question. If I answered truthfully, Albus might never look at me the same again, he’d avoid me, glare at me, make it clear he was dating Matthew. But if I lied, he’d be able to see past it, and I didn’t want to lie.

 

“Yes.” I whispered, looking away.

 

“Why did I ever let you go?” Albus asked after a moment.

 

“My dad, that day, and now Matthew.”

 

“Scorpius, you’re all I’ve been thinking about since that day.” He cried, jerking away his hand and turning to face the wall. “You won’t let yourself be happy, and I love Matthew now. I can’t love someone who won’t be truthful. I’ve known you’ve had feelings for me, before Matthew. You weren’t brave enough to tell me,” he said.The next words he spoke with a raised voice, in between a cry and a shout.

 

“Even though you can’t seem to remember, _I kissed you._ ” He snapped, and got up, leaving before I could reply.

 

I continued to sit, not going after him. Albus had always had problems dealing with anger. I hadn’t understood what had happened. I knew he kissed me, but I didn’t think it meant anything. I didn’t think he could ever love someone like me.

 

_Scorpius, you were Albus’ best friend. Why would you think he’d never loved you?_ I heard Lily’s soft voice tell me, and thought about it. It was all in my head. Was it true?

 

My life made absolutely no sense.

 


End file.
